DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 269 



to secure heat, or too lightly to obtain moisture. Usually po- 

 tatoes planted early in the spring should be covered lightly as 

 it is still cold except on the surface ; later they should be covered 

 more deeply since the soil is warmer and the surface is likely 

 to dry out. In a wet season they should be covered more 

 lightly than when it is very dry; and seed planted on heavy 

 clay or clay loam should be covered more lightly than that 

 planted on light or sandy loam. Generally speaking, it would 

 be better to cover too lightly than too deeply since in a hot, drv 

 time, more earth could easily be added, while if the weather 

 continued wet for several days, it might be difificult to remove 

 any earth from the top of the row, with either weeder or drag. 

 And in using the ridge method of cultivation or in controlling 

 witch grass, drags and weeders should be kept strictly off the 

 field. 



As a final caution, utmost care should be taken that the seed 

 does not come in contact with fertilizer in the drill. Any high 

 grade fertilizer may injure the seed. It should be thoroughly 

 mixed with the earth, either before or after the seed is dropped. 

 Pei'haps more people fail to get a good stand for this reason 

 than for any other. As an extra precaution against fertilizer 

 injury, many leading growers are either sowing part of their 

 fertilizer broadcast or putting it on top at the time of the first 

 cultivation. 



So much for care ; now for improvement. How shall the busy 

 grower improve his seed at slight expense? This question may 

 be answered by the Yankee method of asking another, — What 

 does the farmer need in the way of improved seed? Let us see. 

 Two classes of people are interested in the potato industry — 

 the producer and the consumer. It is an axiom of trade that 

 to be successful in business, one must supply the consumer with 

 what he wants, when he wants it, and as he wants it The first 

 thing then, is to discover what the consumer demands. 



The market, today, calls for a white potato ; the day of the 

 red or dark varieties is past, except in the southern seed trade. 

 The tuber should be of medium size, weighing from five to 

 seven ounces ; smooth, shallow-eyed, that as little as possible 

 may be wasted by peeling, oval-oblong, of good quality, mature, 

 and free from frost, bruises and disease. 



